Speaking of WWII, Japan weakened commitment to pacifism in their constitution

posted at 11:01 am on July 2, 2014 by Noah Rothman

While we are on the subject of World War II and the worst things to have happened since that pivotal 20th Century event, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe defied domestic public opinion on Tuesday when he pushed for and the country’s coalition government approved of a shift in the nation’s defense policy.

For 70 years, Article 9 in Japan’s post-war constitution has prohibited that nation from undertaking offensive military operations or providing for its own collective defense. Abe gutted that pacifism provision, according to The Japan Times, on Tuesday when he signed a provision changing the law to allow Japan’s Self-Defense Forces to provide for their own defense and to come to the aid of allies.

The Cabinet decision, pending related changes to relevant laws, paves the way for the SDF to use force overseas to defend Japan’s allies even if Japan itself is not under attack. In other words, it allows Japan to take part in conflicts abroad, potentially putting SDF members in harm’s way.

“The global situation surrounding Japan is becoming ever more difficult,” Abe told the country in a televised press conference. “Being fully prepared is effective in discouraging any attempt to wage a war on Japan. The cabinet decision today will further lessen the chance of Japan being engaged in war. That is my conviction.”

Japanese relations with its rising neighbor and historic adversary, China, have been worsening in recent weeks since the People’s Republic announced its claim to territory in the South China Sea the Philippines regards as within its economic zone.

Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese naval and air assets have come into close contact on multiple occasions in recent weeks as those nations test each other’s defensive parameters.

Blowback

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This is good for the U.S. The Japanese might now be able to provide military support to the U.S., rather than merely humanitarian aid, logistics supports, and the like. The U.S. will hold more power, even when the French decide to shift their tanks into reverse.

I expect, somewhere in a deep dark bunker, Japan has all the pieces of strategic nuclear missiles staged and ready to be assembled in less than a week. If not, they should be working on that, because the US doesn’t have there back, unfortunately.

Great! Maybe now we can stop providing for their defense and bring our troops home. Then, the Japanese can raise their own army and navy and perhaps their young men’s genitalia will pop back out and we can stop seeing all these stories about the demographic crash going on there.

I can’t see this as anything but a positive. We’ve been complaining forever about our allies hiding behind our skirt, so here we go.

LukeinNE on July 2, 2014 at 11:05 AM

Yep. I’m impressed with Abe for his foresight in this matter – he seems to have seen the decline in US power coming before any other major ally did. His pivot to a more aggressive military posture seems to have come just in time.

No one can blame them. Japan doesn’t have a friend in the US any more.

Schadenfreude on July 2, 2014 at 11:08 AM

This.

Our European allies see us as weak as well with hashtag replies to real issues. Are “our girls” back, Mooch? Barry? No.

Even if people like Jake the Snake at CNN won’t cover Obama scandals for American audiences, foreign journalists and their governments know the truth. America, under teh one, cannot be trusted for anything except lawlessness and cheap entertainment.

The IRS, Benghazi, the illegal children’s crusade…and the band plays on while the media cover their hopes for hurricanes.

The question is whether their Defense Forces will be manned entirely by robots at that point. You laugh and joke about Gundam and Battletech, but wait ’till the robots decide to re-imagine the Japanese Empire. You will rue the day you let Japan out of its box, I say. Rue. The. Day.

We have been sold out. Obama and his communist police state press buddies have made it necessary for the Japanese to take their own security more seriously. I agree that they should have been helping years ago, but they see the probability of a continued Pax Americana as slim, and are preparing. Good on them.

China is part of this- but the big deal (as some other commenters have noted) is the unspoken recognition that the US lacks the will and the capability to project force as boldly as it did for the past half-century or so.

Based on one’s philosophy, this could be a positive or negative development. However, only a fool would fail to notice what is happening with our own nation’s capabilities and goals IMO.

I don’t know, those Japanese are pretty sneaky. I wouldn’t want to see all of our carriers in Pearl Harbor any time soon. They may still be holding a grudge for all of the fire bombings Hap Arnold had ordered. Not to mention Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe defied domestic public opinion on Tuesday when he pushed for and the country’s coalition government approved of a shift in the nation’s defense policy.

A long-overdue shift. The JDF concept was born out of the militarism of Japan in the early 20th century that led to the invasions and attacks leading up to WWII. As a global power, Japan needs to have more than a defense force given China’s blue water naval aspirations.

I don’t know, those Japanese are pretty sneaky. I wouldn’t want to see all of our carriers in Pearl Harbor any time soon. They may still be holding a grudge for all of the fire bombings Hap Arnold had ordered. Not to mention Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Deano1952 on July 2, 2014 at 11:33 AM

People and cultures hold onto those memories and grievances a lot longer than our relatively young nation can imagine. (Although, they’re refighting the American Civil War right now over on the “Worst President Ever” thread.) But any possible Japanese sneakiness is checked by Sino hegemonization.

I think Japan should be as fully-armed and capable of projecting its military might as– China. These countries are centuries-old enemies, and U.S. real politick diplomacy a few decades hence might very well require playing one against the other, taking one side and then another in peaceful disputes, keeping both powers in check.

This would limit Japan’s opportunities for sneak attacks on Pearl Harbor, out of fear of a retaliatory Chinese invasion.

Well, that’s one scenario, anyway. I’m still trying to figure out tomorrow’s weather.

Heckuva job, Barry. When those whom you’ve promised you’ll protect realize that you’re a coward, they have to take steps to protect themselves. When that happens, you lose any ability to influence what happens next.

It’s hard to tell the stance of the HA author. He implies his disapproval, uses words like “gutted”…but never actually says why this is a bad thing.

Anyway, from talking to friends in Japan, it isn’t that the Japanese have gone all kamikaze. It’s that the previous administration tried a more Obama-like approach with China which yielded nothing. Although the Japanese people may still disapprove of a change, it’s now much more apparent to them that it is legitimate policy.

A long-overdue shift. The JDF concept was born out of the militarism of Japan in the early 20th century that led to the invasions and attacks leading up to WWII. As a global power, Japan needs to have more than a defense force given China’s blue water naval aspirations.

Happy Nomad on July 2, 2014 at 11:33 AM

Given that the Japanese probably understand Obumbles having our military shrink as a global power having less influential presence in that sphere. Somebody’s got to fill the void. The PRC is preparing to do so, and that won’t be nearly as beneficial to the Japanese as has the USA has been. Japan must be prepared.

I think Japan should be as fully-armed and capable of projecting its military might as– China. These countries are centuries-old enemies

…

de rigueur on July 2, 2014 at 11:45 AM

Not as much as Westerners tend to think.

Prior to the first Sino-Japanese War in the 1890s they’d rarely been in conflict over the nearly 2 millenia they’d been in contact. There was the Battle of Baekgang in which the Chinese Tang Dynasty was allied with the Korean kingdom of Silla against the Baekje restoration forces and their Japanese allies in 663, a couple of attempted invasions of Japan by the Mongol-controlled Yuan Dynasty of China in the 13th century and the Ming Dynasty’s military support of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty against Japanese invasion in the late 16th century, but that’s about all. (Not counting Chinese resistance to Japanese pirates from the 13th to 17th centuries.)

Not really so bad for a couple of countries that have been neighbors for so long.

I expect, somewhere in a deep dark bunker, Japan has all the pieces of strategic nuclear missiles staged and ready to be assembled in less than a week. If not, they should be working on that, because the US doesn’t have there back, unfortunately.

Fenris on July 2, 2014 at 11:10 AM

No need for deep, dark bunkers. They already have ICBMs, and they are right out in the open:

While we are on the subject of World War II and the worst things to have happened since that pivotal 20th Century event, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe defied domestic public opinion on Tuesday when he pushed for and the country’s coalition government approved of a shift in the nation’s defense policy.

Noah…Have you been so engrossed with blog posts on Iraq and your desire to see the U.S. jump wild into that dump that you have failed to notice a totalitarian fascist controlled country (and a military power) called China that now has military disputes with India, Vietnam, Philippines, and Japan…not to mention their desire to rip up the entire concept of international waters, and are now threatening U.S. shipping lanes in the SCS.

You may also failed to have realized that China is acting very much like Germany pre-WWI with one dumb bellicose statement after another, including wiping the U.S. out of Asia and the Western Pacific for good and turning Australia into a “lamb”.

The American military has been wanting this for a long time, and despite what some have said Japan already has a powerful military, especially their Navy. Our alliance with them is mutual, they allow us bases to protect our sea lanes and assets in Asia, and in return we promise to help them if they are attacked. Now Japan and the U.S. can now form a military coalition if China attacks the Philippines, or Taiwan, or North Korea does something stupid.

This will save us a lot of money and be a force maximizer to protect the Western Pacific for America, including Guam and Hawaii. It will give us more flexibility in dealing with Chinese (and perhaps Russian) aggression in Asia.

Not really so bad for a couple of countries that have been neighbors for so long.

DarkCurrent on July 2, 2014 at 12:10 PM

Good point. Which bodes well for both sides being armed to the teeth, holding each other in check, kowtowing to each other across the Sea of Japan. And both looking to see which side the U.S. will take.

But besides the Sino-Japanese War and the rape of Manchuria, I was also thinking of underlying ethnic attitudes as a source of conflict between these countries. Not that Japanese and Chinese (and Koreans and Vietnamese) are “enemies” in sense that, say, Sunnis and Shias are, nor that the racial or ethnic or cultural divides are enough to spark a war, but isn’t it the case that the Chinese regard Japanese culture as “inferior,” in the sense that they believe that much of Japanese culture to be derivative of Chinese; and that the Japanese still regard themselves as a superior race above other Asians (never mind foreign Western devils) in about the same way they did under Imperial Japan and Meiji period colonialism?

I know you live in the region and I’m genuinely interested in your perspective on the cultural divides.

Why on earth would we think that a reliable ally willing to shoulder more of its own defense would be a bad thing?

jpmn on July 2, 2014 at 12:37 PM

I have not a clue. A few dimwits keep bringing up Pearl Harbor.

We fought the British twice too…including the fact they burned down Washington D.C. (although that might be desirable if it happened now) in the War of 1812. Yet no one is freaking out that we have a military alliance with them. Same with Germany.

Abe, for all his nationalist sympathies, is pro-democracy and is for a pro-American foreign policy in Asia. He is sort of their version of Reagan or Thatcher, trying to re-instill some pride into his people to confront a real danger to their national security.

It is in America’s benefit that Japan is not only taking on more of a burden in collective defense in Asia for democracy, but is doing everything they can to reach out to India, Australia, Philippines, etc. In fact Abe is done more for American foreign policy in Asia than those idiots Obama & Kerry have in Asia.

That is basically where we are at now…depending on Japan to conduct useful American foreign policy and coalition building.

but isn’t it the case that the Chinese regard Japanese culture as “inferior,” in the sense that they believe that much of Japanese culture to be derivative of Chinese; and that the Japanese still regard themselves as a superior race above other Asians (never mind foreign Western devils) in about the same way they did under Imperial Japan and Meiji period colonialism?

…

de rigueur on July 2, 2014 at 12:38 PM

It’s certainly true that Chinese and Japanese recognize that Japanese civilization originally arose as a result of exposure to the much more ancient Chinese civilization, but I don’t know many Chinese who feel particularly superior to Japan for that reason.

Most Chinese distrust of and hostility toward Japan is a result of the Second Sino-Japanese War. I don’t often hear them bring up grievances from before that period.

It is true many (mostly older) Japanese feel superior to other Asians. I think this stems from Japan having been a more powerful and prosperous country in modern times due to Japan joining the industrial revolution decades earlier than other East Asian nations. That said, the feeling of superiority is certainly much less today than it was during the Imperialist period.

(While I’m notoriously thought a ChiCom sympathizer by some on HA, I also have a deep fondness for Japan. I lived there for 9 years working as a technical translator and still visit whenever I have the chance. I even had katsudon for dinner today ;) )

True. I was caught-up in street protest against the Kadena base in Naha City. It was generally older Japanese protesting.

Some saw me (the visiting gaijin sticking out like a sore thumb) and were embarassed by the protesters. A small group expressed that even if the ‘Japanese street’ was against our bases, many of them were quietly happy that we were there.

The problems generally arise from isolated incidents. A rape, an aircraft crash in a populated area or some other general human failing.

This is good news. It’s time that some checks and balances be put on China and Japan is large enough and has a military tradition to command respect in that neck of the woods. No doubt, China’s attempted island grab played some part in the decision.

In reality, Japan has sidestepped this constitutional issue for decades by deploying a 750,000 Self Defense Force which is an “Army” by any other definition!! People with military knowledge say that this Self Defense “Army” will acquit itself quite well.

The Sea of Japan lies farther north, between Japan in the east and the Koreas and Russia in the west.

DarkCurrent on July 2, 2014 at 1:03 PM

Ouch. Well, the Japanese know what I meant :)

DarkCurrent on July 2, 2014 at 12:56 PM

I asked because a very close Chinese friend of mine (in Shanghai :) has expressed exactly that “cultural superiority” attitude toward Japan. He was being somewhat facetious, but I was struck by the fact that he’d even voice the sentiment. “Jesters do oft prove prophets” sort of thing.

As for the Japanese attitude on race, I see that first hand in a lot of social and business dealings. But only here in Los Angeles, where all of Asia is rubbing shoulders and knocking elbows in the rush for American dollars, so I’ve wondered how that plays in their own countries.

I asked because a very close Chinese friend of mine (in Shanghai :) has expressed exactly that “cultural superiority” attitude toward Japan. He was being somewhat facetious, but I was struck by the fact that he’d even voice the sentiment. “Jesters do oft prove prophets” sort of thing.

…

de rigueur on July 2, 2014 at 1:31 PM

If your friend is Shanghainese that’s no mystery.

Shanghainese think they’re superior to every other species of human except possibly some Westerners.

My wife of 23 years is Shanghainese. She considers even the people of Hangzhou and Suzhou to be uncultured barbarians. People from Anhui? Pure savages, if not outright criminals.

This article gives no details on how much more Japan will spend on their defense. Is this all talk and just bluster? There seems to be a very vocal segment of their population that just doesn’t want to go this route.

Shanghainese think they’re superior to every other species of human except possibly some Westerners.

My wife of 23 years is Shanghainese. She considers even the people of Hangzhou and Suzhou to be uncultured barbarians. People from Anhui? Pure savages, if not outright criminals.

DarkCurrent on July 2, 2014 at 1:38 PM

I’m not sure of his original city or province, but his parents fled to Taiwan from the mainland during Mao’s ascent to power. Although he lived there a number of years before emigrating to the U.S., and then lived there again for years after college, I doubt if he considers himself Taiwanese. The islanders certainly don’t. Maybe he’s adopted Shanghai’s attitude along with the city as his home.

Japan will have a full fledged aircraft carrier in no time. One of their ships can be converted easily. If you have ever seen a pic of it, you would see why. It was inevitable why China started to finish out the incomplete Russian flat top it bought in a fire sale.

South Korea has a ship that is a carrier in everything but name as well.

This article gives no details on how much more Japan will spend on their defense. Is this all talk and just bluster? There seems to be a very vocal segment of their population that just doesn’t want to go this route.

In 35 years China will have a GDP twice that of the US and Japan combined. It will be facing some serious demographic issues, but Japan’s will be much worse. The US will be a financial, cultural and political basket case with a much less capable military than today.

The Diaoyu Islands will return to Chinese control without much of a fight.

I’m not seeing how this is a bad thing for the US. Imagine if also Germany, and the Netherlands and Sweden decided to start spending significantly on defense and France started investing heavily in new white flags.

It would save the US $billions and $billions in NATO defense expenses and very likely be a short/medium term boost to our economy until they gear up domestic weapons production and development. We’ve already destroyed our credibility

Now certainly the reason that Japan feels the need to do this is an indictment of American policy, action and of late, equivocating. As a US citizen I don’t trust any component of the executive branch. I can’t imagine how horrified foreign nations dependent on us for defense to any degree have been. Look at Ukraine and our push for them to significantly disarm and abandonment of them less than a decade later. A condition in part allowed by the US abandoning East European allies we had promised a missile defense shield. As Poland said, it is not worth it being a US ally anymore (of course it is still generally better than being a US enemy unless you really like drones).

Sounds about right. More of a cultural “given” than a motivating impulse. But there for a demagogue, dictator, oligarchy, or social militarization to enflame as needed. We aren’t immune from that, either. President Preezy’s been working overtime on it here.

…I do know that the Chinese used to refer to the Japanese as ‘island midgets’, translated. Once again, they may just be guilty of being a tad too literal.

When I learned that Mandarin for “turkey” is “fire chicken” I realized the language requires some dressing for Western tastes.

Japan can stimulate it’s economy with a little military industrial complex seasoning. Pitch in a few efforts with the US’ s adventures to get some of its troops a little seasoning. Get some F 35Bs for that ship(s) and expedite training on US carriers. Just wait till they unleash the pokemons.

I expect, somewhere in a deep dark bunker, Japan has all the pieces of strategic nuclear missiles staged and ready to be assembled in less than a week. If not, they should be working on that, because the US doesn’t have there back, unfortunately.

Fenris on July 2, 2014 at 11:10 AM

No need for deep, dark bunkers. They already have ICBMs, and they are right out in the open:

Epsilon Launch Vehicle

Of course, they don’t call them “ICBMs”, but you know that China knows what this “launch vehicle” really is.

ZenDraken on July 2, 2014 at 12:22 PM

Japan doesn’t even need ICBMs, considering the ranges to their likely enemy. I just hope they have a couple of hundred nuclear warheads tucked away somewhere ready to go.

Japan can stimulate it’s economy with a little military industrial complex seasoning. Pitch in a few efforts with the US’ s adventures to get some of its troops a little seasoning. Get some F 35Bs for that ship(s) and expedite training on US carriers. Just wait till they unleash the pokemons. – TRB on July 2, 2014 at 2:28 PM

They tried to buy some F-22 Raptors from the United States. We turned them down. They are developing their own stealth fighter. But still they have no heavy lift aircraft or navy that could get them to any distant location. I suppose they could buy some C-17s. Right now they have only a frame work of military. And, they have a 69 year history of being taught that don’t need one.

In 35 years China will have a GDP twice that of the US and Japan combined. It will be facing some serious demographic issues, but Japan’s will be much worse. The US will be a financial, cultural and political basket case with a much less capable military than today.

The Diaoyu Islands will return to Chinese control without much of a fight.

DarkCurrent on July 2, 2014 at 2:15 PM

(1) GDP growth rates always slow for a developing economy. In fact they already are slowing.
(2) China has a major water supply problem
(3) There will be a Asian NATO arrayed against China
(4) Many of those countries will have nuclear weapons
(5) China has a muslim population problem
(6) China has a dissident problem

The danger is not that China will wait 35 years, but they actually think they are a great power today which means they will do something really stupid leading them into a war with most of their neighbors. The CCP is proving themselves to have one of the dumbest foreign policies in my lifetime…even dumber that Obama’s and Bush’s ill fated policies.

… But Japanese and Chinese do mostly seem to agree that turkey isn’t very palatable (here I disagree with both).

DarkCurrent on July 2, 2014 at 2:43 PM

Well of course!

Cause they forgot to wrap it in baaaaaacon (and stuff it with more baaaaaacon. As a matter of fact, my turkeys egress from the oven with a little piggie head peeking out the turkey’s big hole with an apple in its mouth, stuffed with, you guessed it, baaaaaacon.)

(1) GDP growth rates always slow for a developing economy. In fact they already are slowing.

Not nearly fast enough to undermine my assertion.

(2) China has a major water supply problem

Yet I haven’t got a water bill in months ;)

(3) There will be a Asian NATO arrayed against China

China will still be more powerful, if that happens.

(4) Many of those countries will have nuclear weapons

China’s had nukes since the ’60s.

(5) China has a muslim population problem

A small fraction of the population who mostly just make excellent beef noodles. Understand the Muslim population of China is not monolithic. Most of the Hui, for example, tend to identify strongly with China.

(6) China has a dissident problem

And few in China pay it any attention.

The CCP is proving themselves to have one of the dumbest foreign policies in my lifetime…even dumber that Obama’s and Bush’s ill fated policies.

William Eaton on July 2, 2014 at 2:50 PM

At least smarter than Abe’s. China is in no huge rush to take significant action. For now they’re just making sure their claims are noted for the record. They understand time is mostly on their side.

Agree that China’s dominance of the eastern hemisphere is not a given. Yet.

This is the only area of “immigration reform” that I’d favor right now. If we’d let in all the Chinese who attend colleges and universities here, who are offered jobs here, and who want to stay, we could brain-drain that country in a generation. Probably start a run on their banks, too, as their parents transfer their wealth from there to here. Not even sure we’d have to apologize for the Pacific Railroad.

This article gives no details on how much more Japan will spend on their defense. Is this all talk and just bluster? There seems to be a very vocal segment of their population that just doesn’t want to go this route.

SC.Charlie on July 2, 2014 at 1:58 PM

It’s all talk for now.

DarkCurrent on July 2, 2014 at 2:10 PM

They already have offensive capabilities.

The projections are (can’t remember where I read this) that they could have nuclear weapons in seven months.

Their anti-missile defense system is equal to ours, and they’ve been building “helicopter destroyers” that are actually aircraft carriers. They also have main battle tanks, special operations forces, amphibious assault ships, attack helicopters, and smart artillery.

They created the capabilities first, and now they’ve announced a fait accompli.

The only way you defend allies is by projecting power with offensive capabilities.